Bound buttonhole attachments



United States Patent Robert W. Burgess, range,.( onn.,assignor to The Greist Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application August'15,f1956,iSerialiNo. 604,266 '6 C'laims. '(Cl. Ilf2-77) This inventionrelates toai device formakingbound 'or piped buttonholes, .and more'particularly to a device of this character for use'withth-e ordinary household sewingma'chine.

In making aiboundfbuttonhole a ypiece' ofl cloth is normally sewed to the main body of thematerial,-this piece of cloth beingfolded upon itself 'from each side inwardly and 'the edges pulled downwardly through slots cut through the piece' itself-andA infthematerial to which the One object of the present inventiorr'is to Vprovidel a device of the character described which will be of` 'relatively simple construction and economicall to manufacture.

A further object of the `invention' is to provide a device for making 'piped `or 'bound buttonholes 'having 'means forv supporting a piece of clothfolded upo'n itself'at'each longitudinal edgethereof in properposition to be sewn to the body of a4 garment, the device being so constructed that the piece of material to be sewn upon the garment may be readily linserted therein in "folded condition and removed therefrom after the stitchingrhas been effected.

Still another object of the inventionis to provide adevice for the purpose described consisting of agplatelike member having a longitudinal slot therein whereby'the stitching may be effected along the opposite longitudinal edges of the slot and the metal ofthejplate at `theredges of the slot is curved downwardly so as to guide the needle into the slot if it should strike the metal of the plate.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described having guide members for the material below the surface of the plate, these guide members comprising spaced pronglike elements and hooklike members at the undersurface of the plate and formed integrally therewith to engage and hold the guide members in place.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a top plan view of a device for making bound buttonholes embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a front end elevational view;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view showing the manner of use of the device; and

Fig. 7 is a view through the material being sewed,

2,814,263 ,Patented Nov..26, 1957 I2. s'howingaffurtherstep in'theprocess--of making a bound buttonhole.:

To illustrate one Yembodiment of the invention, the drawings disclose a devicefforxuse in 'making bound or piped buttonholes comprising a base plate member designated `generally by` thenumeral 10. This member -may be conveniently made'of sheet metal and the material of the plate between the edges thereof may be displaced upwardly throughoutthe length oflthe plate, as shown at 11, leaving-flat edge portions 12 lying below the level of the raisedy portion 11.

Adjacent one end of the plate, which may be termed the 'rear end, spaced rearwardly projecting ears are'provided which are rolled to form aligned sleeve members 13, these members being integral with the portions 12 of the plate and projecting rearwardly therefrom.

' The raised portion 11 of the plate extends throughout the `length thereof, andin this portion is provided `a longitudinal slot '14. Theslot is of slightly less extent in length thantheraised portion of the plate so that it is closed at its ends 'by the'parts 15 and 16. Itwill be noted that the edges 17 ofthe slot 14 (Fig. 4) are curved downwardly'at each side of the slot sovthat, if in use of the devicethe Aneedle of the sewing machine should strike the edge of the slotinstead'ofpassing into the slot itself, the needle willY be, guided into its ,proper position within the slot. yThe downwardlyprojecting prongs or teeth 18 are provided onthe edge4 portions 12'of the plateto-engage the material of the garment inwhich the buttonholes are to be made's'o that the attachment will belfed along wtih the material .by the usual feed mechanism of the sewingmachine.

Guide means are provided about which the piece'of cloth torbe sewn to the garment may be folded. This guide means comprises ayoke member 19 having spaced forwardly directed'prongs or leg members 20 projecting therefrom.r These prongs are at resilient members, as shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 4, and their free ends, that is theends remote from the body portion 19, project from the forward edge of the base plate member 10.

Upon the ,body portion ,19 of the yoke member are provided spacedsleeves 21 which may be formed by rolling the material upwardly.V from the planeof the member 19, as shownmore especially in Fig..5. Whenthis yoke member is assembled with the base plate 10, the sleeves 21 are aligned with the sleeves 13 anda vpivot pin '.22 inserted therethrough to pivotally connect the parts'permanently together.

It will be apparent .that when the parts are assembled in this manner,,theprongsltllie below the raised portion 11 of the base plate adjacent the edges of the slot 14 and may be swung toward and away from the base plate about the pivot pin 22. Means are provided to engage the free ends of these prongs and hold them in place. As shown, this means comprises hook members 23, one upon each side of the slot 14, these members being formed by cutting the material of the portion 11 of the base plate and folding the cut ends downwardly and then outwardly in U-shaped form, as shown more especially in Fig. 3. These hook members open outwardly to receive the free ends of the prongs which are of sufficient resilience so that they may be spread to the extent necessary to engage them with the hook members so they will be held in place while the sewing operation is being performed but may be spread apart to be removed when desired.

In the use of the device the piece of cloth 24 which is to be sewn to the material 25 of the garment in which the buttonhole is to be made is folded about the prongs or leg members 20 after the yoke member has been swung downwardly about its pivot 22 to open position so as to facilitate this operation. The free ends 26 of this piece of cloth are then brought upwardly through the slot 14. The attachment with the piece of cloth thereon is then placed over the material 25 of the garment and placed under the needle bar of the sewing machine. The free edges 26 may be folded over upon the same side of the attachment as shown in Fig. 6 and the cloth 24 may then be sewn to the material 25, vas shown at 27, this line of stitching being adjacent one edge of the slot 14.

The free edges 26 of the material are then folded toward the other side of the attachment and a second line of stitching 27EL (Fig. 7) may be made adjacent the other edge of the slot 14. It will be seen that the leg portions or prongs 20 of the yoke are thus enclosed within the folds of the cloth 24 by the stitching 27 and 27e.

The sewing operation having been completed, the prongs 20 may be disengaged from the hooks 23 by the spreading of the prongs outwardly and may be swung downwardly from the base plate 10 so that the material may be removed from the attachment by sliding the latter off the free ends of the prongs. Thereafter the edges 26 of the material 24 may be drawn downwardly through slots cut in the materials 24 and 25 as shown in Fig. 7.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the prongs 20 of the yoke member lie below the raised portion of the base plate 10 and within the recess formed between this portion and the support upon which the device rests so that these members will not prevent the lower surfaces of the side edges 12 from resting flatly upon the material of the garment in which the buttonholes are to be made.

While one embodiment of the invention is illustrated and described, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modication and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device for making bound buttonholes comprising' a plate member having a substantially centrally disposed slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, a yoke member pivoted to the plate member adjacent one end thereof and having substantially parallel prong members extending along a lower surface of the plate, one adjacent each side edge of said slot, the material of the plate at the side edges of the slot along which the prongs extend being curved downwardly valong the edges of the prongs to project into the slot, and means adjacent the other end of the base member to engage the free ends of the prongs to locate them and hold them in place.

2. A device for making bound buttonholes comprising a plate member having a substantially centrally disposed slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, a yoke member pivoted to the plate member adjacent one end thereof and having substantially parallel prong members extending along a lower surface of the plate, 4one adjacent each side edge of said slot, the material of the plate at the side edges of the slot along which the prongs extend being curved downwardly along the edges of the prongs to project into the slot, and means adjacent the other end of the base member to engage the free ends of the prongs to locate them and hold them in place, said means comprising hook-shaped members, one at each side of the plate, said members opening outwardly to receive, and permit removal of, the prongs.

3. A device for making bound buttonholes comprising a plate member having a substantially centrally disposed slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, a yoke member pivoted to the plate member adjacent one end thereof and having substantially parallel prong members extending along a lower surface of the plate, one adjacent each side edge of said slot, the material of the plate at the side edges of the slot along which the prongs extend being curved downwardly along the edges of the prongs to project into the slot, and means adjacent the other end of the base member to engage the free ends of the prongs to locate them and hold them in place, said means comprising hook-shaped members, one at each side of the plate, said members opening outwardly to receive, and permit removal of, the prongs, said hook-shaped members being formed integrally with the material of the plate.

4. A device for making bound buttonholes comprising a plate member having a substantially centrally disposed slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, a yoke member pivoted to one end of the plate and having a body portion and a pair of spaced parallel prongs extending from the body portion, one adjacent each side of the slot, the prongs having free end portions extending beyond the opposite end of the plate, and the material of the plate at the edges of the slot being bent downwardly over the inner edges of the prongs, and hook-like members on the lower surface of the plate adjacent the free ends of the prongs to engage and locate the latter.

5. A device asin claim l wherein the plate is provided with a central longitudinally extending raised portion below which the prongs extend, and the slot is provided in such portion of the plate.

6. A device as in claim 2 wherein the plate member is provided with a centrally disposed raised portion leaving at marginal edges at each side thereof, and the slot is provided in, and the hook members provided on the lower f surface of, the raised portion of the plate.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

